Marinette Youth Hockey Association

 

The Tournament featured six teams including the Thunder, Dodgeville, Iowa City, Iron River (Mich.), Madison and Ontonagon (Mich.). Teams played a pair of pool play games before advancing to bracket play on Sunday.

The Thunder opened the tournament Friday evening with a 6-3 loss to Iron River before picking up a 7-4 win over Madison on Saturday. In Sunday’s semifinal contest, they pushed Dodgeville to the limit before surrendering a 3-2 final score.

Friday’s game was the Thunder’s third meeting of the season with Iron River after coming away with a tie and a loss in a doubleheader on the road in December.

This time, the Thunder broke out early with a goal from Logan Sakovitz in the opening minute of the contest. Addison Lacy made it 2-0 off an assist from Brayden Rounds three minutes later.

The Ice Hawks, as they did in the teams’ earlier meeting, scored in bunches. A flurry of three goals in just over a minute put Iron River up 3-2 through one period of play.

Blue Haley tied the game early in the second, but two more strikes in quick succession made it 5-3 Iron River entering the final period. The Ice Hawks added one more in the third to account for the 6-3 final score.

“We came out flat, and they did what they wanted while we were trying to catch up to them,” Thunder Coach Fred Haley said of the Iron River game. “If we had played like we did the rest of the weekend it might have been different. I think we are very evenly matched, and it will be interesting to see what happens we play them again.”

The Ice Hawks will make a return trip to the REC Center on February 17.

The Thunder had better luck on Saturday against the Madison Area SW Eagles.

Again, the Thunder struck with a first-minute goal, this time from Damien Winterbottom.

The Thunder outshot the Eagles 18-10 in the first period, but Madison picked up a pair of late goals to lead 2-1 after the opening stanza.

Avery Walloway tied things up in the early stages of the second period, and goals from Haley and Theron Thayer made it 4-2 before Maidson’s Garrett Hurley found the net with 15 seconds to play.

Madison goalie Benjamin Schaumann did all he could to keep his team within striking distance, but the Thunder overwhelmed him with 52 shots in the contest.

Logan Sakovitz pushed the score to 5-3, and Caiden Radtke added another goal just 13 seconds later. With three minutes to play, Thayer scored again while Sakovitz completed a playmaker with his third assist of the game.

While Schaumann had his hands full with 45 saves on the day, Glenn Woodworth needed only 17 stops to preserve the victory.

Coach Haley was pleased with his team’s effort in the win.

“We did what we wanted and kept the momentum pretty much through the whole game.”

That momentum carried over into Sunday’s game against a Dodgeville team that finished as the WAHA State Runner-up last season.

A physical game led to a combined 25 penalties between the two teams, while three of the game’s five goals were scored on a powerplay.

After an early goal from the Ice Wolves, the Thunder responded with goals from Haley and Radtke to take a 2-1 lead into the second period.

Dodgeville tied the game with five minutes to play in the second When Brock Lynch scored on a powerplay.

Midway through the third period, Haley was called for tripping and was eliminated from the contest with four penalties, leaving the Thunder without their leading scorer for the remainder of the game. Three minutes later, another tripping call against the Thunder led to the eventual game-winning goal from Dodgeville’s Joren Forseth with 3:36 on the clock.

With 2:21 to play in regulation, the teams were tagged with offsetting high stick and roughing penalties that marked the 12th of the game for each side leading to automatic ejections of both coaches.

Despite the tight officiating, Coach Haley was pleased with his team’s play against a strong opponent.

“Dodgeville has a really good team,” Haley said. “I thought we had a good game plan, and the kids played it really well. I loved the energy and intensity they brought, and I’m looking forward to a rematch when we go down there for their tournament. I’m excited with how we played, and excited to see if we can do it again.”

The Thunder will play in the Ice Wolves Invitational February 9-10 in Dodgeville, Wis.

With the win, Dodgeville advanced to Sunday’s championship game where they defeated Iron River 2-1.

After a 1-2 weekend, the Thunder stand at 6-8-3 on the season. They will return to action this weekend when they play at Ontonagon (Saturday, 9 a.m. CST) and Hancock (Saturday, 2:15 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.).

Peewee A

The Pewee A team split a doubleheader at Oshkosh on Sunday, taking game one 6-5 and falling 9-3 in game two.

Wyatt Kneath and Parker Perket each scored three goals on the day, while Holden Ruiz, Sam McKenney and Brayden Forgette also scored. Ruiz (2), Perket and Kneath also had assists for the Thunder.

The Peewee A team will take part in Rhinelander’s Hodag Invitational this weekend.

Peewee B

The Thunder Peewee B team picked up a 6-6 tie and a thrilling 8-7 win at Oshkosh on Sunday.

In a preview of a WAHA 3B Playdown game that will take place February 4, in Waupaca, the two teams proved to be very evenly matched.

After Oshkosh stormed back from a 6-2 deficit to earn a 6-6 draw in game one, game two saw three goals in the final minute before the outcome was decided.

Madison Salewksy hit the net with an assist from Cael Schmidt, giving the Thunder a 7-6 lead with a minute to play, but Oshkosh’s Isaac Lundt answered right back to tie the game with 39 seconds to play.

With 25.4 ticks on the clock, the Thunder’s Calvin Schroeder completed a hattrick with a game-winning goal.

The Peewee B team returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Wausau for a doubleheader.

Squirt A

The Squirt A team came away with a 4-4 tie and an 8-2 loss at De Pere on Sunday.

Carter Campbell scored four goals on the day while Owen Campbell and Braylen Puser also found the net for the Thunder.

The team is back in action at the Chippewa Falls Tournament this weekend.